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The concept of dispersing bugs by air is not new. In the past, trichogramma parasitoid wasps were released via light aircraft over Pecan farms in Northern NSW. Persimilis in the US have also been released with light aircraft. Means of dispersal this way is obviously limited by aircraft access and underlying costs associated with distributions….

FOR Tony Hoang, spreading beneficial bugs on his entire strawberry crop is a daunting task. Walking along the rows of plants, sprinkling the predator bugs by hand, is a huge drain on his time and labour. “It takes four days – and my knees at the end are so sore,” Mr Hoang said. He could…

The brainchild of Nathan Roy, Aerobugs is a commercial UAV operation licensed by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to distribute preferential insects from the air over a variety of crops. These bugs, through their natural life cycle, kill pests that can destroy a number of crops including strawberry, tomato, brussel sprouts, pears and more. The…

DRONES on farms are becoming more popular so it was not a surprise to see a few around Beef Australia this week. Much larger than the average run-of-the-mill drone is the DroneAgriculture, a heavy-lift octocopter drone with a lift capacity of 20kg that can apply granule herbicides in confined areas. DroneAgriculture is a joint venture…

A TRIP to craft store, Spotlight, was part of the development process when Nathan Roy was refining the equipment used to deliver beneficial insects via drone technology. The former strawberry grower of 20 years saw a greater need for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) use in agriculture. During his presentation at the Future Farming Masterclass at…

A NEED to find another way led Strawberry Fields manager Brendan Hoyle to invite a ‘hexacopter’ to fly over his Stanthorpe strawberry patch dropping predatory mites onto the plants below. “Once we saw the trials and data start coming out of their Sunshine Coast season we thought we’d try it for ourselves to see if…

Drones are emerging as the latest tool in biological pest control on Australian farms. A former Queensland strawberry farmer turned inventor has begun using drones to spread predatory insects over farmland so they can kill pests that would otherwise eat the crops. “It’s going to be the only way that beneficial bugs are going to…